Having spent four years in higher education I have come to realize that college is as much about finding yourself as it is getting a degree.  In this time you will make your own path, discover your own passions, and develop skills or traits that will define you for the rest of your life.

College is a big change.  You are expected to move out of your parents house, leave your old life behind, and begin building a foundation for the rest of your life.  My time as a college student has definitely been a challenge and without a doubt my biggest life lesson.  If anyone tells you it isn’t a struggle they are lying.  These past four years I have felt very lost and, up until recently I wasn’t sure why.  Now I understand that I felt this way because I was in search of a sense of purpose.  A reason for everything that I was doing.  People always say that you go to college to “find yourself.”  Up until recently I thought that was a bogus saying, but it seems like as soon as you “find yourself” you know exactly what those people are talking about.

At 18 I did what every other 18-year-old has been told to do since they were old enough to remember.  I packed up my few belongings, moved into my dorm, and started the next level of my education.  Going into college I had no idea the struggles I would face.  Coming from a small town where you were a sports star to a bigger city where maybe half of your professors know your name?  That was a struggle.  Trying to decide what the heck you want to do for the rest of your life?  That was an even bigger struggle.  This pressure to make major life decisions combined what my grandma has named “the disease” (the severe inability to make a decision no matter how big or small the choice) and some social anxiety left me feeling very stressed all. the. time.  So, naturally, I shut down.  I became a shy, less confident version of myself.  Looking back I feel like I dug myself into a very large hole.  But gradually I began to climb out of the hole.  And in that process of climbing out of that hole you really start to discover who you are.

It seems like one day everything clicked.  I had enough feeling sorry for myself. I started actively participating in class, going after the things I wanted without fear of what people thought of me, and discovered my passions.  I met new people, made new friends, and fell in love with my own life.  Day to day you don’t realize the progress that you are making, but one day you look back and see how far you’ve climbed.  In that moment you’ll wonder why you let yourself fall so deep, but the retrospective 22-year-old me is thankful to have had the opportunity to climb out of that gigantic hole and discover what it truly means to “find yourself.”  Nothing feels better than finally understanding yourself.  And I am forever thankful for the past four years finally allowing me to understand myself.

So who am I?  I love to learn and have new experiences.  I value my personal health (both body and mind) and am passionate about improving both kinds of wellness.  But most importantly I value this planet we all share.  I crave new hikes on new terrain, different food from different continents, and immersion to cultures as far from my own as possible.  Adventure is something I live for and this realization has made me dedicated to spending my life having as many adventures as possible.

A wanna be wanderer.  That’s me.  While I once again feel a little lost approaching graduation next December, I don’t feel hopeless.  If anything I feel inspired.  I am happy with who I am, I have my whole life ahead of me, and for the first time there isn’t anyone telling me what to do.  The uncertainty of the next adventure is actually one of the best feelings.  It leaves room for dreaming.